Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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285. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the expenses incurred by her Department to date in 2019 for the implementation of ongoing communications strategy initiatives that highlight schemes and programmes operated under the auspices of her Department including advertising and promotion on television, radio, newspapers and online in tabular form; and the level of expenditure for each such initiative. [52112/19]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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286. To ask the Minister for Children and Youth Affairs the expenses incurred by her Department to date in 2019 for the commissioning, development, production, promotion and online sharing of a video that highlighted schemes and programmes operated by her Department in tabular form; if such videos have been commissioned for 2020; and if so, the estimated costs of each such video. [52129/19]

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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287. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the expenses incurred by his Department to date in 2019 for the implementation of ongoing communications strategy initiatives that highlight schemes and programmes operated under the auspices of his Department including advertising and promotion on television, radio, newspapers and online in tabular form; and the level of expenditure for each such initiative. [52124/19]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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As part of my Department's Statement of Strategy, we have committed to improving our communications with all our stakeholders, most notably with communities across the country. In particular, we have prioritised raising awareness of the range of supports that are available to assist communities and those in rural Ireland.

In that respect, we have implemented a number of successful communications initiatives which have sought to deliver on these objectives. Amongst these was the Rural Opportunity roadshow and campaign run from March to May this year. Rural Opportunity was a cross-Government initiative designed to highlight the opportunities available for rural communities to access funding for projects in their areas, through the range of funding programmes provided across Government. In addition, the Department also partnered with Pobal to deliver a complementary series of workshops, entitled Helping Hands, which were undertaken at a number of regional venues over April and May. These workshops were aimed at organisations and community groups who have had difficulty unlocking funding from the various programmes and provided guidance on how to make suitable applications.

As part of my Department's overall communications strategy, and in support of initiatives such as those outlined above, the Department incurred expenditure in relation to video production and online and print advertising. Details of the costs incurred in that regard are out in the table below.

Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
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288. To ask the Minister for Rural and Community Development the expenses incurred by his Department to date in 2019 for the commissioning, development, production, promotion and online sharing of a video that highlighted schemes and programmes operated by his Department in tabular form; if such videos have been commissioned for 2020; and if so, the estimated costs of each such video. [52141/19]

Michael Ring (Mayo, Fine Gael)
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My Department is promoting rural and community development through a range of funding schemes and initiatives. It has, as outlined in its published Statement of Strategy, prioritised communicating with the general public in relation to the range of supports available to assist communities and those in rural Ireland.

For example, my Department administers the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund, a €1 billion investment by government in rural Ireland over the period 2019 to 2027. We are also delivering schemes such as the LEADER 2014-2020 Programme (€250 million) and Community Development Programmes, to which my Department will allocate €158 million in 2020 alone.

In order to better inform rural communities about the supports available, my Department led and delivered the Rural Opportunity roadshow and campaign from March to May this year. This was a cross-Government initiative designed to highlight the opportunities available for rural communities to access funding for projects in their areas, through the range of funding programmes provided across Government.

A complementary series of workshops, entitled Helping Hands, was also undertaken at a number of regional venues over April and May. These workshops were aimed at organisations and community groups who have had difficulty unlocking funding from the various programmes and provided guidance on how to make suitable applications.

In order to raise awareness among communities of the opportunities which exist and to inspire them to develop a vision for their areas, my Department also created a series of five case study videos which showcased successful projects already delivering in rural Ireland. The videos were shared through my Department's Twitter account over the course of the campaign and the response from stakeholders was encouraging.

The costs associated with these videos are laid out in the table below

To build on the progress achieved in raising awareness of funding programmes, my Department commissioned a further 10 case study videos which highlighted further examples of successful rural and community-based projects. The costs associated with these videos are laid out in the table below.

Some of these videos have already been shared through my Department's Twitter account with the remainder due to be shared over the coming weeks.

While the business planning process is ongoing in my Department, there are currently no plans to commission further videos of this nature in 2020.